Graco Junior Hi-Back Booster

Had one for 2 years and always thought it's serviceable for school run but don't have it in the family car because never felt it would be good on motorway / longer runs; seems a bit flimsy but in accord with price difference on heftier ones.

Just buying a new upper group one and checked Which?, they really do say don't buy so not going to get one. According to them it could injure child in crash.

I brought this as heard good reviews about itmy little boy is 5 next month,we have the graco logico L the more padded version,to me its the worst buy,its flimsy and bendy and i doubt very much on a side impact collision that it withstand any damage,the head part doesnt come around to protect the face in a crash,also when my boy sleeps his head rolls around and leans forward,

We have now purchased a britax evolva 123 and he is very secure and feel alot happier my child is strapped in a SOLID car seat not a thin plastic thing.

Would only recommend if you were on a budget,as this is better than nothing. I believe Which has reviewed this car seat and not highly.

Which rate this as one of the most inadequate seats there is - they have done significant safety tests on it and it was POOR!! Price isn't everything - how well it protects in the event of a crash is vital. http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/press/product-press-releases/which-magazine/2005/06/inadequate-child-car-seats-still-on-sale.jsp

The Graco Junior Hi-Back Booster is a good for price and easy to use, very perfect fit to children

In all fairness, not a bad car seat (we have 2 x junior plus in my hubby's car).However, for long journeys i doubt their comfort as there is no substantial padding on the seat, back or around the head. i have also wondered to the safety with a side impact crash due to this (which? haven't tested it to my knowledge). i would strongly recommend spending a bit more money and getting the Maxi Cosi Rodi XR - i have these in my car. i also wish i had got these before the Graco. They are Which? tested and found to be the best of their class.

It's also worth looking around either the internet or smaller town shops for good prices - i find places like Mothercare & Halfords a bit expensive

I was recently in a bad car accident, where my car was rear-ended at approx. 40 mph. and from the impact, our car went into the car in front of us(Our car was at a complete stop, air bag deployed for myself the driver), my son in the back seat in his Graco booster seat and was totally unharmed!

The back window blew out, the back end was totaled. The officer said if he hadn't been in the seat he was in, it might had been a different outcome. So PLEASE keep your kids in a booster and I highly recommend this seat! I am replacing it again with the same brand!

After reading one of the reviews here, my partner and I decided that we were going to buy the Graco Junior Hi-Back Booster. We have found it to be excellent, and one of the most comfortable seats for our oldest boy, and the quality is so good that we won't need to get another one when his little brother is big enough to go into it. This one should still be fine, its even easy to clean the mess boys seem to have around them at all times of the day! We even found it at a cheaper store than Halfords.

Graco Junior Hi-Back Booster:

Car Seats are one of those vital necessities for young children. Originally we had a Silver Cross car seat which was suitable from birth to 9 months, we then progressed onto a Britax seat for 9 months onwards but there came a stage recently when this Britax seat needed replacing with yet another seat. We were looking towards buying him a seat which would last him until a seat was no longer needed. Preferable something which could be taken apart and then used as a bog standard booster seat. After reading a couple of reviews on Ciao I decided to take a closer look at the Graco Junior Seat as for the price it sounded the ideal product and I know Graco are usually a pretty good manufacturer of children's products.

By chance a trip to Halfords revealed they had it on offer for that particular week. I'm not sure how much they normally sell for in this shop but that week they were priced at £39.99 which seemed a very reasonable price as Jakes previous car seats were a lot more expensive.

A bit about the Graco Junior car seat

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The seat itself looks fairly attractive and expensive. It's very lightweight but seems very solid and sturdy. The headrests and armrests can both be adjusted to suit your Childs height and the seat even reclines slightly. At the bottom of the chair are two cup holders which you can either pull out so as to use them, or push them away which leaves them neatly tucked away inside the chair. The recommended age group for this chair is 3 - 11 which makes it fantastically cheap to buy for such a long usage time.

It fits into all cars (I would think) and it's as easy as sliding the seatbelt through a couple of links. Nothing difficult about it whatsoever. Even a dummy could work out how to follow the basic instructions.

The seat does come apart so as to leave a booster seat for older children. Just remove the back part of the chair and hey presto...done!

The overall verdict

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I am very pleased with this purchase and I know my Son Jake is because for the first two weeks of us having it he wouldn't shut up about it. Wherever we went in the car he would take pride in showing off his new seat. It must've made him feel so grown up by not having a baby seat anymore.

The seat is nicely padded throughout which must make it nice and comfy to sit in but I can't confirm that as my bums too big to try it out. As for the reclining position, well we have tried it out but Jake is quite happy to fall to sleep in it without reclining. The reclining part of it is easy to suss but it doesn't recline very much at all. Just enough for children to sleep without their head flopping forward. Jakes head doesn't flop even if he's asleep sat up. The headrest seems to stop the head rolling around and he sleeps away quite happily.

The cup holders are a very big bonus and are actually the first thing which initially attracted me to this particular product. You see our car is useless for space to put things. We have no stretchy side compartments or any behind the seats which makes storing my Sons drinks and munchies a nightmare. Things end up rolling around the floor of the car and leaking everywhere. Well not any more. One of the cup holders on his seat always contains his drink and the other one will either contain a little packet of crisps or a cuddly toy of some description. He loves his cup holders and even plays with them sometimes by sticking small objects like a car in them and closing them away. He'll say "night night car" then close the cup holder so it's hidden. Bless him!

He started using this seat almost the minute he turned 3 and I was a little wary as to whether the seatbelt would cut into him with Jakey being such a small child. Fortunately the seat belt height is fine. The car seat does come with a seat belt 'fixer' which you can attach if it looks like the belt may be able to cut into your Childs neck which I think's a fab idea. The belt 'fixer' holds the belt away from the Childs neck so as to make it safe. Jake had no need for this.

Another problem I was wary of was the fact that Jake had always been pinned down in his seats before. How would he cope with just having a normal belt? Would he manage to wrangle free and start causing chaos on the back seat? Fortunately we've only had a couple of instances where he's tried to get out of his seat. He quickly stopped doing that one when he found out how mad it made Mummy. Now we have no trouble whatsoever with him sitting and staying in his chair. I think he even understands to a certain extent how he may get hurt buy getting out of his seat.

Thankfully the seat cover is also washable. The cover easily comes off and then you just chuck it in your washer. Kids get everything mucky so it's a godsend when things are so easy to wash.

I can't imagine Jake using this seat until he's 11. After all, which 11 year old wants to be made to sit on a booster seat? But it would be very handy for people who have children with difficulties. Some 11 year olds still need extra support when it comes to various things and yet companies don't always make allowances. Well here you go, a car seat which lasts until age 11.

Final thoughts

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After searching around the internet I've discovered this car seat is usually £39.99 wherever you buy it from so I feel a bit cheated that Halfords misinformed me a bit by saying they had it on offer for that price. Nevertheless it has been a great buy and I can see us using it for many years to come. If I only use it for 4 years it works out at £10 per year which isn't bad at all.

There are other cheaper seats out there but after the disgustingly cheap and tacky one my Mum bought for £15.00 from Argos I'd say not to bother with anything that cheap. That cheap car seat was very dangerous to say the least as it slipped and slid around the car like no-ones business. This Graco one for £39.99 is very reasonably priced and hasn't slipped around once. Go and have a look at one and compare it to others and I bet you'll be as impressed as I was/am. So far I've yet to come across any negatives but if I do I'll report straight back here.

The Graco Junior Hi-Back Booster car seat was a really good investment. We had tried a booster suchsion with out 4 year old, but found that when he fell asleep in our car, he was all over the place, but with the head support he now just sleeps through the long journeys.

The cup holders are fantastic, not only for drinks, but also for dinky toys and grapes.

We are now considering buying one for our 3 year old!!